


Time blind

by Tovarich



Series: Good Omens Celebration 2020 [13]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale has ADHD, Baking, Crowley Has ADHD (Good Omens), Good Omens Celebration 2020, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24189247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tovarich/pseuds/Tovarich
Summary: Aziraphale's time blindness strikes again and his cake ends up being burnt. Thankfully Crowley is here to comfort him.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Good Omens Celebration 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727137
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40
Collections: Good Omens Celebration





	Time blind

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for day 13 of the Good Omens Celebration was unlucky. This fic is very self-indulgent. I had this idea that Aziraphale could have predominantly inattentive ADHD while Crowley has impulsive/hyperactive ADHD.

Aziraphale took one of his old cookbooks from the shelf. He wanted to try a new recipe of apple cake he had noticed as he leafed through the book. He often did that when he was bored but too tired or restless to just sit down and read. He would take a cookbook or some of his illustrated books and just absentmindedly turn the page, stopping here and there to just stare at the picture. That allowed him to let his thoughts wander and keep himself occupied without requiring too much attention. The recipe was rather simple, and the cake had looked delicious in the photo on the left page. He started measuring the flour and sugar when Crowley entered the kitchen.

"Hey angel, what are you baking today?" He bent to look at the open book on the table, wiping some of the flour that had fallen on it. "That's a new recipe isn't it? Looks good."

"Yes, that's a new one. I hope mine will look as good as the one on the picture." Aziraphale's cake tended to taste far better than they looked. He wasn't very good at doing things with his hands. Cake decorations that required precision usually ended up looking very messy, which was an endless source of frustration to him.

Crowley sat down on a chair at the table and watched Aziraphale stir the dough. He had been bored out of his mind; it was Sunday and there was literally nothing to do. Even sleeping had started to become boring. He had gone to his flat, yelled at his plants for a good hour to get rid of the frustration, but his throat had started to hurt after a while. He was getting out of practice since he had started spending so much of his time at the bookshop. At first he had been scared that Aziraphale would get bored of him, of his endless rumbling about everything that crossed his mind and his impatience, but the angel still hadn't sent him out yet. Though he did ask Crowley to run errands for him quite often. The demon didn't mind though, it helped Aziraphale and it gave him something to do.

"Oh I haven't told you!" Crowley started, "I found that really cool telescope in a specialised shop the other day. I always wanted to have one, but it's a bit useless here in London. Light pollution and all. Been a long time since I've seen a clear sky. Anyway, I asked the bloke who worked there and he said 'you know, you could just drive to the countryside at night, right?' And I had never thought of that! Clever things, humans aren't they? Keep creating lots of problems and then find ways to solve them or work around them, right?"

"Yes dear," Aziraphale replied. He felt a bit bad for not paying more attention to what Crowley was saying, but he was trying to remember what he had forgotten to put in the dough. It wasn't liquid enough, it seemed. Perhaps he had to add more milk. Or had he forgotten something? He couldn't remember. He had been listening to Crowley, at first, but he found it hard to focus on both his cake and Crowley and he had ended up focusing on none.

He had talked too much once again, hadn't he? Crowley thought. He always swore he would stop it, _just control yourself, you stupid demon_ , he would hiss at himself. But once he started talking, it was as if a dam had broken and the words simply kept on pouring out of his mouth. Everyone in Hell had been angry at him for not being able to keep that stupid mouth of his shut for more than five minutes, but Aziraphale just seemed to go with it. He was taking advantage of the angel's kindness, that's what it was.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear," Aziraphale said he noticed how long it had been since Crowley last said anything, "I got distracted by the cake. It doesn't look right… I think I forgot something, but I can't remember what."

Crowley frowned for a bit and tried thinking about what he had seen Aziraphale put in the bowl. He had no idea how cakes were made, so he wasn't much help. He dipped his finger in the dough and brough it to his lips. "Don't know what you forgot, but it tastes good. Maybe not as good as those pumpkin cupcakes you baked last week though. Bit too sugary for me. But still good. And apples are good too, good choice. Best fruit, apples, I would know, eh?" He kept talking for a bit, Aziraphale smiling at him the whole time even as he continued stirring the dough. He could tell Aziraphale wasn't paying attention to exactly what he was saying, but it didn't matter, because it meant Aziraphale liked having him as background noise, and that was enough for Crowley. Well, as long as he wasn't only ever background noise, that wouldn't do. Oooh he thought, I know what he forgot! "Eggs!" Crowley almost shouted, making Aziraphale jump.

"Eggs? What eggs?" Aziraphale blinked, his heart still pounding in his chest.

"That's what you forgot!" Crowley replied excitedly.

Aziraphale mumbled something like 'oh, right, where was my head again?' and went to take eggs from the fridge. "Thank you, dear boy, I don't know what I would have done without you. The cake would have been ruined!"

For a moment, Crowley was proud to have been able to help Aziraphale, but the voice in his head wouldn't leave him alone so easily. _There's nothing to be proud of, it's your fault he forgot the eggs in the first place! Can't you ever shut it and let people focus on what they're doing? Do you really need to be at the centre of their attention all the damn time? Just let him alone, instead of talking his ears off. You're boring him, just leave._ Ah yes, the voice was probably right, he's better go. Just drive around for some time, complain at the stupid speed limit and shout at stupid people who crossed the road without looking and stupid himself who wasn't able to just sit down quietly for more than five minutes. He started squirming on his chair, feeling quite restless all of a sudden. "I- er- I probably should let you to it. Think I forgot something in the Bentley!"

But instead of looking relieved, Aziraphale pouted. "If you really must," he said, fidgeting with his spatula, "but I really quite enjoy your company, dear boy. I know it looks like I'm not paying any attention to you, but I love just hearing your voice and feeling you here." _You don't deserve him_ , Aziraphale's voice sneered, _look at yourself, you're a pathetic angel who can't even bake cake properly. You're really only good at eating it, aren't you?_ He could actually hear the voice smirking viciously. _And now you're making him run away because of your own incompetence. You should be ashamed._ Aziraphale had stopped arguing with that voice a long time ago, coming to terms with the fact that it was probably right. He really only wished Crowley wouldn't leave. It felt good to have him by his side, to just listen to his voice without always paying attention to the words. But he still felt bad for Crowley, it must be very rewarding to be considered nothing more than background noise. Obviously it wasn't all that Crowley was to him! Not at all, but it certainly must look like it… No wonder Crowley wanted to leave.

"If you're sure, then I'd love to stay with you," Crowley replied with a happy grin. He kissed Aziraphale's cheek and then proceeded to find a comfortable position on the chair. He ended up with his feet on the seat and his knees against his chest, but he knew he would soon move again. He never sat still for a very long time. _Aziraphale wants me! He only uses that pout when he really wants something!_ Crowley shouted inside his head. Outwardly, he just kept his lips stretched in a wide grin. He started talking about ducks, about how it had been a long time since they last went to the park – to which Aziraphale agreed and said they would go again soon, about how it had rained all day and he was just bored. And he kept on moving in his seat every five minutes.

Finally, the cake was in the oven. Thirty-five minutes and it would be done. Aziraphale started cleaning the dishes (he liked doing it the human way, just to keep his hands occupied) and putting everything back in its proper place. But as he took the bottle of milk, it felt very light. He shook it and realised it was almost empty. And he had wanted to drink hot cocoa with his cake, and Crowley loved his cocoa too, it was the only sugary thing he drank.

Aziraphale turned towards the demon with his most innocent looking pout. "Crowley, dear?"

"What do you need, angel?" He asked in mocked annoyance. He could never refuse anything to Aziraphale, even more so when he was faced with that adorable pout.

"Milk," he said sheepishly. Oh, he was really abusing Crowley's kindness, really. He could just miracle it, but it didn't taste the same, it was slightly bitter and even the texture was wrong…

And Crowley knew this, that was why he just kissed Aziraphale's forehead and grabbed his car keys before heading out. Yes, he could just go on foot to the little shop round the corner, but he thought he might as well drive for a bit, get that nervous energy out of his system. Well, except that today was his lucky day the traffic lights seemed to stay red longer just to spite him. He was bouncing his leg as he waited, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to an imaginary beat in his head. When the light finally turned green, Crowley slammed his foot on the gas pedal and drove as quickly as he could.

Back at the shop, Aziraphale had decided to put some of his books back in their proper place, but one of them got his attention. It was a long time since he had last read it. Just a few pages, he thought. He looked at his watch: still fifteen minutes before he would have to take the cake out of the oven, enough time to read a chapter. Only, one chapter morphed into two and what had seemed to Aziraphale to only be ten minutes was in fact half an hour. Just as Aziraphale ran to the kitchen, Crowley came back into the shop.

"Smells a bit… burnt." He said, scrunching his nose.

Aziraphale let out a sob. "I know! This is a disaster, a complete disaster. I forgot to set a timer and I forgot the time. I was reading and I didn't realise… Oh dear, this is terrible." He took the burnt cake out of the oven, looking defeated and on the verge of tears.

"It's alright, angel. It's not a big deal. Just slightly charred on the surface. Nothing we can't fix, hmm?" Crowley embraced Aziraphale in a warm hug, trying to reassure him. He knew the angel would just beat himself up about it and he hated it. "You're amazing angel, you're doing very good. It's alright to make mistakes sometimes, it's not a big deal."

Aziraphale couldn't contain his tears anymore, and he felt ridiculous about it. It was just a cake, after all. "But I don't ever do anything right, I'm not able to carry out any task without messing up at some point."

And Crowley knew how that felt, he had cried on Aziraphale's shoulder on numerous occasions for precisely the same reason. That feeling of being useless, never good enough. Thinking you'll always be disappointing yourself or someone else, that you just should do better. Thinking, _it's not that hard, why can't you just do it?_ And you want to just do it, but it's a struggle and it shouldn't be, and you feel pathetic because of that. Yeah, he knew that feeling and it broke his heart to know Aziraphale was feeling the same. He glared at the cake, hissing almost inaudibly. But the cake heard him, and it was frightened enough to become slightly less burnt.

"You're my perfect angel. My perfect angel who bakes such good cakes, all the time. It might be slightly burnt, but it still smells good and I'm sure it tastes good too. My beautiful angel, who has eyes way too pretty eyes to fill them with tears," he murmured, rubbing his hands on Aziraphale's back. "Your cakes are the only thing I ever eat because they're the only thing worthy to be eaten. Because my perfect angel bakes them with love, so they automatically taste amazing," he kissed Aziraphale's temple, before pressing his forehead against Aziraphale's. "You know what we're going to do? We're going to scrape the surface and you'll see that your cake is still perfect inside, alright?"

In the end Aziraphale's apple cake wasn't as ruined as he had originally thought. It was even quite good, if Aziraphale was honest with himself. Crowley took a small part of the cake, but as always, he mostly looked at Aziraphale as he savoured it.


End file.
